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Traditional Carpet manufacturing process
Traditionally, all the
designs that were used in the carpet were made manually. It was
entirely dependent on the designers’ creativity to produce a range
of colorful designs. Design outline is prepared on white paper and
then filled with appropriate colors to make them different from
existing designs. The same design was used to be converted into
different graph papers to enable weavers understand them clearly so
that while interlocking of wool into cotton they could interpret the
designs accurately. After the finalization of design a reduced
graphical format of the complete design was prepared and given to
weavers. The whole designing process used to take around 20-25 days
depending on the compactness and size of the carpet.
While weaving one translates verbally the graphical design into
their own weaving language called “ Boli” and concurrently other
person interlocks the woolen threads into a net of cotton threads
called as “ Tana-Bana ” . Time taken for interlocking the wool
varies according to their knotting compactness. Thus the higher the
compactness the greater is time spent by the weavers. At the end of
the process a tough carpet made by weavers goes through several
chemical processes and final product comes out as a soft and
colorful floor covering.
Antique Indian Rugs
The term – antique – implies
more than just age. Early antique Indian rugs and carpets have free
designs, with little balance. Flowered and animal figures are common
themes, with some of the animals having several heads and devouring
each other. Pictorial realism and Hindu mythology are both major
features of antique Indian carpets. Abstract symbolizations and
dense decoration also distinguish antique Indian carpets from
others.
Antique Indian carpets, re known for their spirited colors, were
made with their known dyes. All the colors of the rainbow were
pulled out from their local flora. The local fauna produced the wool
mainly used for weaving, though silk was readily available and used
often.
Indian carpet weaving was at its height during Mughal dynasty. The
earliest Mughal carpets from the 16th century reveal the heavy
influence of Persian carpet weaving traditions, which were brought
to India by Persian rug weavers Despite the array of influences, the
rugs of Agra, Lahore, and Fatehpur Sikri as a whole reflect the
Mughals great respect for and appreciation of nature, along with
their high standards of craftsmanship. The steady demise of the
Mughal Empire was accompanied by a decline in the production of fine
oriental rugs that was only revitalized by the British in the
nineteenth century. While the rugs that were made during the late
19th century in India recall Mughal designs, for the most part, they
were finely-knotted interpretations of both classical Indian and
Persian designs, often in subtle color palettes to cater to European
decorative preferences. The two main cities of late 19th century
antique Indian carpet weaving are Agra and Amritsar. W hile
Amritsar rugs are often whimsical, informal and in soft earthy
tones, Agra rugs are frequently characterized by their deeper colors
and fine weaves.
For instance, antique rugs with
hand-spun wool and natural dyes have a more luminous, animated
surface with a true feel of depth. Also, the onset of the twentieth
century ushered in the industrial age era and a more global economy,
which brought Western influence to the Middle East.
The Indian carpets are well known for their designs with attention
to detail and presentation of realistic attributes. Indian carpets
are known for their high density of knotting.
Passed on from generation to generation as family heirlooms, these
démodé carpets are an significant part of global civilization. |